This invention relates to appliances which aid persons in exercising and to methods of using such appliances.
One class of appliance and method for excercising includes a holder for a rope to be used in the exercise of jumping rope, with the holder having a pivotable portion that permits the rope to pivot freely in the appliance. It has also been suggested that weights be used in jumping rope to provide upper body muscle development.
In the prior art appliances and methods for jumping rope, the appliance for pivotably holding the rope includes a ball bearing racer held in place by a staple on the rope, with the rope being pivotably held by the ball bearing racer to extend from the handle. The end of the rope is mounted to extend from, be aligned with and pivot about a common axis extending through the longitudinal axis of the handle. With this arrangement, the end of the rope is bent at an angle to the pivot axis a short distance from the pivot point. In many such prior art holders the pivot means is separate from the weights.
The prior art exercise appliances have several disadvantages such as for example: (1) not pivoting freely and being subject to locking because of the manner the rope is held by them; (2) being inconvenient to use; (3) being difficult to adjust for the desired amount of weight or to remove the rope; and (4) causing delay in the turning of the rope because it is bent at a sharp angle a short distance from the handle.
Another class of exerciser includes two handles that are pulled apart or pushed together against a biasing pressure and then permitted to return to their original position. In some of these exercisers, the two handles are intended to be used with one hand and in others two hands are used.
In prior art exercisers of this type, the force which is worked against is provided by a spring. These prior art appliances have several disadvantages such as: (1) the force required to move them is not uniform but depends on the distance the two handles have moved; and (2) they are relatively difficult to adjust to provide different forces.